Lubricant



Patented Jan. 13, 1942 LUBRICANT Herman E; Ballard, Berkeley, Calif.

No Drawing. Application April 26, 1939, Serial No. 270,197

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in lubricating compositions andmore particularly to plug valve and packing lubricants.

Lubricants which are provided for use in valves, pumps or other placeswhere the metal surfaces are exposed to the fluids must adheretenaciously to the surfaces to which they are applied. Such adherencecan only take place when the lubricant wets the. metal surface with agreater free energy than the fluids present. Otherwise, even though itcannot be dissolved, the lubricant maybe removed from the surfaces bythe fluids and rendered useles.

An example of where this condition may exist is in the case of a metalsurface exposed to a hydrocarbon, such as gasoline. A water solublelubricant, such as glycerine, would not adhere to this metal surface dueto the superior adhering qualities of the hydrocarbon film. Hence, somemeans must be found to lower the surface tension to permit penetrationof the hydrocarbon film by the lubricant which can then adhere directlyto the metal surface.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to lubricate metalsurfaces in the presence of nonwill accomplish the purposes set forth isa synthetic aliphatic penetrant, such as the sodium secondary-alcoholsulphate commercially available under the name Tergitol and sold by theCarbide and Carbon Chemiyals Corporation.

Other penetrants are known variously as Tensol which is the sodium saltof sulphonated long chain aliphatic alcohols manufactured and sold bySynthetic Chemicals Inc. and Intramine which is the sodium salt ofsulphonated alcohols manufactured and sold by Van Dyk & Company, Inc.,and are also useful for the purpose.

I have found, however, that the inclusion of such materials in alubricant are not generally solvent film on a metal surface unless analkali or alkali salt is also included. Consequently, the hydroxides,carbonates and silicates of sodium or potassium which have been foundefficient may be used for the purpose.

The glycerine used as the base of the lubricant is a preferred materialbut the alcohols and polyhydric alcohols may be substituted. Hence,wherever the term glycerine is used in the specification and claims itis intended to include glycol, methyl alcohol and equivalent materials.Moreover, as is usual in lubricating compositions, the glycerine maycontain some water so that the given percentages of this material are tobe understood as including both glycerine and water.

A preferred formula is as follows:

Percent Tergitol 0.25 to, 10 Sodium hydroxide 5 to Glycerine 80 to 94.75

A lubricant made according to the preferred agent may be included.Suitable gelling agents are bentonitefclay, agar, sodium alginate andstarch, the amounts used depending upon the consistency desired.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainspecific embodiments thereof it is to be understood that these are byway of illustration only and not by way of limitation.

Lclaim:

l. A lubricating composition comprising glycerine, a small amount ofsodium hydroxide, and

. a small amount of sodium secondary-alcohol sulphate.

2. A lubricant having substantially the following composition:

. Percent Glycerine to 94.75 Sodium hydroxide 5 to 10 Sodiumsecondary-alcohol s u lphate 0.25 to 10 3. A lubricant base compositionfor lubricating metal surfaces exposed to non-polar solvents whichadhere to said surfaces with greater free energy than said lubricantbase, comprising es-' sentially a liquid polyhydric alcohol base towhich about 5 to 10 per cent of an alkali and 0.25 to 10 percent of awater-soluble salt of a sulphonated long chain aliphatic alcohol havebeen added to permit replacement of the solvents on sufilcient to permitit to penetrate anon-polar said surfaces by the composition.

HERMAN E. BALLARD.

